Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
“Did you seriously dude me?” But Cooper looked amused.
Kala was missing a couple of clues. “Then it’s good there’s no marriage thing. Mom, I think you should present a couple of the properties we’ve identified. It’s why we’re here. I’m with Damon. We should get our assignments and get some rest. Maybe we’ll be in better moods then.”
Her mother went back to discussing the properties they’d discovered and how they were going to split them up to investigate. There were sixteen sites they were particularly interested in, including one that Sosa claimed she remembered from her training days.
“You okay?” Oliver leaned over and whispered.
Not really. Her mother would tell her she needed to be patient and that she could handle some of his anger. Her mom would point out that she’d survived her father’s wrath and they’d had so many sweet years together.
But her father hadn’t been obsessed with Emmanuel Huisman. Her father would have given up revenge or even justice if it meant keeping her mom safe, and Ben had proven time and time again he would risk anything for a chance to take down his white whale.
Maybe it wasn’t an epic love story. Maybe it was a tragic one.
Maybe it was time to grow up and stop insisting that fairy tales were real.
Love wasn’t something she could force.
Her mother handed out assignments. Cooper and Kala would go with Sami. Lou and TJ would be with Lucy, and Ben and Kenzie would have Oliver as their European escort. They were going to Scotland where Huisman kept a small castle that might be where he stored his records.
“I think Tim should accompany Ben.” She wasn’t a masochist.
“Oh, I’ll come, too,” Tim said in his normal cheery fashion.
“I wouldn’t go without Tim,” Ben said. “Though I think we would be more comfortable with Lucy.”
Not what she’d meant. “I was thinking I would stay here. I would like to continue interviewing Sosa and Gabby and prep a possible mission to get their friends out.”
Ben suddenly decided she was worth looking at. “No.”
She felt her eyes widen. “What is that supposed to mean?”
His face was a gorgeous cold mask. “It means I agreed to work with you, not with MI6.”
“Cool,” Kala said. “You can come with me then.”
Ben didn’t even look back at her. “No.”
“I think I’ll take the assignment I was given,” Oliver interjected. “It’s been forever since I got to work with my cutest American cousin. Though that’s what we call each other. No blood between us, right, gorgeous?”
She rolled her eyes and got ready to give Oliver an earful, but Ben stood up.
“We could ditch the Canadian and work on our own,” Oliver suggested.
Ben gripped the back of his suit and hauled him up bodily.
It was violent. It was sexy in a way it should not be. In a way that was dangerous since the man had spent the last twenty-four hours ignoring her. So why the hell was he jealous?
“Hey,” Oliver began.
Ben punched him in the face and then let him drop. He turned to her father. “I’m not taking that asshole with me. He’ll be far too busy hitting on my sub to protect her. We’ll take Lucy with us. And Kenzie will be coming with me.”
Oliver turned and started to throw a punch, but Ben simply put out an arm and blocked it then swept out with one leg and put Oliver on the ground. He stood over him.
“Mine,” Ben said, his voice dark and deep. “You look at her again and I won’t hold back.”
It was exactly the kind of thing that should have her panting after him, but she couldn’t forget the coldness he’d wrapped himself in after taking all her warmth.
She was a prize, something he could toy with for a while before he decided if she was worth keeping around.
Or he was planning some revenge on her. She could see that, too.
Her father stood. “Well, on that note, I’ll take my wife and settle in. We’ll meet again tomorrow morning to talk logistics. Kenz, figure out what you want to do.”
“She’s coming with me,” Ben insisted, stepping back and letting Oliver up.
Oliver straightened his suit. “I don’t think this is going to work. I never realized Canadians were so humorless. Fine, then. I’ll go with Louisa. I’ve always appreciated a smart bird.”
“I will kill you,” TJ vowed.
“Or I could stay back and help out around The Garden,” Oliver offered. “The club is open for the younger set tonight since we’ll be out of my father’s hair in a day or two.”
Damon sighed and agreed. “I think Tag and I should talk anyway. We’ll head out to dinner and discuss the situation with his assassins. I’m afraid the younger set is a bit too much drama for me.”
Her father stood and held a hand out for her mother. “Ben, that was the smartest thing you’ve done since I met you. Ollie’s a menace. Kenzie, let me know where you think you can best benefit this team.”